How to Save Zinnia Seeds From a Flower
Save the seeds from your favorite zinnias to grow next year. If you grow open-pollinated varieties, the plants from your saved seed will be true to the parent plants. If the flowers you saved seed from are hybrids, then the next generation will be a mix of plants resembling the original parents of the hybrid. Zinnia seeds are fairly large and easy to collect. It is easy to tell when it is the correct time to collect the seeds, too. Zinnias are a good choice for learning the basics of seed-saving. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Select healthy, attractive flower specimens to use for your seed sources. Choose flowers that are the best examples of the characteristics you want. This can include size, color, branching habit or sturdy stems. If you want to keep track of the seeds by characteristics, tag the flower heads so you will remember the traits.
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Allow the chosen flowers to die on the plant and turn brown. The seeds need to mature on the plant for the best fertility. Cut off the dead flower heads, keeping them separated so dropped seeds won't mix together.
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Hold each flower head individually over a paper towel or small container to collect the seeds. Remove any dead petals. The seeds are located in the center of the flower, where the base of the petals were attached, in the case of the zinnia, this will be a dome-shaped cone. To remove the seeds, gently flick apart the flower center. If it is dried properly, the seeds should fall apart easily. They are flat and brown, and are usually shaped something like an arrowhead or a long rectangle. The size of the seed varies, but they are usually approximately 1/4 inch, more or less.
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Label a paper envelope with your seed information. Sort and remove plant debris from the seeds, and put the seeds into the envelope.
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Store the seeds in a cool, dry place until next spring.
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Tips & Warnings
Use a paper envelope instead of a plastic sealed container or plastic bag. If the seeds are not completely dry when you pack them in plastic, they may mold in storage, making them useless for planting. A paper envelope allows some air circulation.
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Comments
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If you like Hummingbirds and Butterflies then what you want are Zinnias. Lots of them.
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davycrewcut
Dec 25, 2009
There's alot of useful information in this article.
